North Carolina A&T men’s basketball coach Jay Joyner announced changes to his coaching staff for the 2017-18 season on Wednesday.
Jack Agostino, who sustained major success for more than 25 years at a New York high school, will serve as the new Aggies associate head coach. David Butts, a former Division III and junior college assistant basketball coach, was also added to the staff.
Will Jones will remain on the staff for his second season to serve as the Aggies recruiting coordinator and guard/wings coach. Ray Martin, who was recently inducted into the Old-Timers of America Hall of Fame in New York City, will serve as the director of basketball operations in his second season with the program.
“We examined a lot of areas within our program after last season because it comes down to we are all accountable for making this program successful,” said Joyner. “We needed to add a little more experience to the staff, and I needed to give my assistants responsibilities that matched their strengths. I think Jack and David will be great assets to our staff, and I think Will and Ray have a better understanding of what does and does not work.”
Agostino won 473 games over the 27 years he served as head coach of Amityville High School, a public school on the south shore of Long Island, N.Y. Agostino served as Joyner’s high school coach from 1990-92. Agostino posted a .787 winning percentage as the Warriors head man and ranks fifth in Long Island history in prep wins. He won four straight state Class A public school and state Federation titles (2000-03), becoming the only Long Island boys basketball team to accomplish the feat. Amityville won 23 league, 11 county class titles and nine Long Island titles under Agostino.
As the associated head coach at N.C. A&T, he will serve as Joyner’s offensive and defensive coordinator.
“I’ve known coach Agostino for many years, and I have the upmost confidence he will make the transition to Division I basketball seamlessly. Basketball is basketball, and there are not too many people who know more about basketball and how to coach young men than coach Agostino. We lost a lot of close games last year. I think having someone with coach’s expertise on the sideline will only benefit us in close games.”
Butts has spent time on the prep, junior college and collegiate level. Butts comes to N.C. A&T after spending one season at Division III Rosemont College. During the 2016-17 season, Rosemont went 16-11 overall and 13-5 in the Colonial States Athletic Conference. The Philadelphia native also spent one season (2015-16) at Rise Academy Prep in Philadelphia. Butts had a three-year stint (2012-15) at Cecil College, a junior in North East, Md. In addition to being responsible for the skill development of the Aggies post players and in-game management, Butts will also handle team travel, assists in recruiting and monitor academics.
“David is a young coach who is energetic and willing to learn and grow as a professional,” said Joyner. “His eagerness to succeed is going to help us in recruiting. He deserves this opportunity to coach on the Division I level.”
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